


V. (Vengeance)

by junakabisque



Category: Alice Nine
Genre: Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-25
Updated: 2012-10-25
Packaged: 2018-01-08 16:37:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1134976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junakabisque/pseuds/junakabisque
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Have you ever had a desire to kill your ex's new lover?</p>
            </blockquote>





	V. (Vengeance)

**Author's Note:**

> Credit to sumikatara@LJ for beta-reading. Inspired by Tere's song, entitled [Aku Patut Membenci Dia](http://www.4shared.com/audio/YVMWGPhu/Tere_-_Aku_Patut_Membenci_Dia.html).

His room was all-dark and the curtains were drawn. No lights, no sounds, simply nothing. There was just him, lying in the centre of the room and topless. His bare skin made a direct contact with the cold floor. A dried stream of tears stained his face, his eyes were wide-open, and his lips were slightly parted. He murmured something repeatedly, but the voice that came out from his lips was so low that nobody was able to hear it. It seemed like he couldn’t even hear the chant-like whispers himself. Suddenly, a rustling noise was heard. He jerked his head in surprise, staring unseeingly at something that looked like a photograph, which was falling down from his wall and onto the floor very slowly. He sat up and crawled towards the fallen photograph. He knelt beside it, tracing his fingers along the surface of the photograph, as a few fresh tears started falling down his cheeks again. He began forming the sentences that had been his mantra since only God knows when. The voice sounded louder than before.

 

“You’re mine… mine and mine only. No one can own you but me. You’re mine…”

***

“Hi, Shou! Ohayou~”

 

Shou stared at the small guitarist. Hiroto and Nao had already arrived at their studio earlier than they usually did. Still holding the door handle in his left hand, Shou smiled widely at Hiroto.

 

“Ohayou, Hiroto-kun. Ohayou, Nao.”  
“You look cheerful as usual, Shou,” commented the drummer.

 

Shou merely grinned and walked towards the sofa, putting his bag on it.

 

“Tora and Saga haven’t come yet?” he asked.

 

Nao was about to answer, but right at that moment, the door swung open again. The men in question entered the studio and greeted their bandmates in unison. They looked so happy today, which was not unusual. Tora and Saga had been dating each other for the past two months and their bandmates agreed that the two of them looked perfect together. They were meant to be. Saga eagerly ran to the vocalist and kissed him on the cheek, earning laughter from his bandmates, including his boyfriend, Tora.

 

“Ohayou, Shou! How are you today?” asked Saga, smiling widely.  
“I feel great! Thanks for asking,” answered Shou with a wide grin spread across his face.  
“Nee, Tora bought me this hat last night. It looks cool, doesn’t it?”

 

Shou stepped back a bit to examine Saga’s appearance. The bassist surely looked so cute with that white hat. Saga made a pose, making the vocalist laugh.

 

“Torashi sure is good at picking cute stuff for you, Saga,” said Shou after a little while.  
“Of course, he is! He’s my boyfriend, after all!”

 

With that, Saga pulled Tora towards him by the wrist and hugged the taller man. The dark-haired guitarist smiled and ruffled Saga’s hair playfully.

 

“What a cute couple~” said Nao from behind his drum set.  
“Thank you, Nao!” replied Saga cheerfully.  
“Shall we start practicing then?” asked Tora after that.

 

Nodding in unison, all of Alice Nine’s members moved to each of their usual spots.

 

~*~

 

Shou went missing at break. Saga, Nao and Hiroto had gone to the nearest café to grab lunch together, whilst Tora said that he would just stay in the studio for today. Saga promised to buy something for him, earning a chaste kiss from Tora on his lips. Once alone, Tora sat back on the sofa, feeling more relaxed. He produced a pack of cigarettes from inside his jeans pocket, took one out and slipped it in-between his lips. That was when his eyes caught sight of the newly set caution board on the studio wall, which told him that smoking was prohibited. Tora rolled his eyes, muttering, “Rules…” and then rose up from the sofa, attempting to leave from the studio.

 

A moment later, the dark-haired guitarist found himself walking towards the rooftop of the PS Company building. He reached the top of the stairs, noticing that the door to the rooftop was left ajar. Shrugging, he walked past the door nonetheless, meeting a cool breeze. It took him a few seconds to realise that someone had already gotten there first. He narrowed his eyes; making out the figure that he then realised belonged to his vocalist. Shoving one of his hands inside his jeans pocket, Tora approached the honey-colour haired man.

 

“Hey, Shou. What are you doing here?” asked Tora, leaning back onto the railing.

 

Shou didn’t answer. Confused, Tora turned his head to the vocalist. He was surprised to see that Shou was holding a cigarette between his fingers. Shou brought his hand up to his lips, positioning the cigarette right before his full lips.

 

“Shou… you don’t smoke,” stated Tora.

 

Shou chuckled and brought his hand down again.

 

“No, I don’t. This is for you, Tora.”

 

Shou turned sideways, facing the guitarist. Slowly, he offered the cigarette to Tora who seemed reluctant to take it. Tora’s eyebrows furrowed at Shou’s odd demeanour, as he stared into the vocalist’s large eyes. Looking impatient, Shou grabbed Tora’s hand and forced the palm to open. When Tora was on his way towards the rooftop, he would never have expected that his own vocalist had been waiting for him to do _this_. Tora yelped at the sudden pain as Shou stuck the burning cigarette onto his right palm. The vocalist’s gaze was blank and cold whilst doing so and he didn’t seem like he was going to release Tora’s hand any time soon. Nevertheless, Tora regained his composure and forcefully pulled his right hand away from Shou’s tight grasp. He held his right hand close to his chest with his left hand, panting and glaring in disbelief at Shou. He didn’t know why he couldn’t seem to form a sentence. The burning sensation in his palm spread all over his right arm and he felt his eyes widening in horror. In front of him, Shou tilted his head to the side, an innocent smile stealing its way up to his lips.

 

“My bad, my bad. I shouldn’t have played with something as dangerous as a cigarette, ne?” said Shou casually, tossing the cigarette over the railing.

 

Then without further ado, Shou left Tora alone on the rooftop.

> _Maybe, I have the right to hate him… because he loves you._

***

After returning from the café and finding that Tora wasn’t in the studio, Saga went in search for the certain dark-haired guitarist. He passed Uruha in the corridor, stopping to ask the other guitarist whether he saw his boyfriend or not.

 

“Sorry, I haven’t,” answered Uruha apologetically.  
“ _Sou ka_ …”  
“I’d like to help you search for him, but I have to go back to the studio soon.”  
“It’s okay, Uruha-san,” replied the bassist, smiling.

 

Saga was about to walk away when suddenly Uruha caught his wrist. The bassist turned around again, looking confused.

 

“Nee, Saga-chan…”  
“ _Hai_?”  
“Is _he_ all right?” Uruha looked concerned as he asked this.  
“Who?”  
“… Shou-kun.”  
“Aah… Yes, I suppose he is. Why… did you ask? I’m sorry; it’s not that you don’t have the right to—,”  
“I walked past him earlier and… he looked troubled. It’s weird. I’ve never seen Shou-kun like this before. He’s usually either cheerful or calm,” explained Uruha, fidgeting uneasily.  
“I’ll…” Saga frowned, “… talk to him later. Thanks for telling me this, Uruha-san.”  
“Unh… you’re welcome.”

 

Uruha turned on his heel to leave, whilst Saga remained on his spot, staring at the guitarist’s back. Without him realising it, he had called out to Uruha again. It was Uruha’s turn to be confused now. The slightly taller guitarist turned to face him.

 

“Yes?”  
“Do you… have feelings for my vocalist?” Saga voiced out his curiosity.  
“Eeh?? A-ano…” Uruha’s face turned red, “… Well… sort of.”

 

Uruha was blushing madly now, which made Saga giggle. The bassist stepped forward towards Uruha and patted him on his shoulder.

 

“I’d like to hook him up with you, Uruha-san.”  
“But?”  
“ _But_? There is no but. I really want to help,” said Saga again.  
“But you and he were—,”  
“That’s in the past, Uruha-san,” Saga interjected, “There’s only one person I love now.”  
“I see…”

 

Just then, they heard footsteps coming. They both turned their heads at the sound and saw Tora walking in their direction. Saga sighed in relief, pulling his hand away from Uruha’s shoulder and then approached his dark-haired boyfriend.

 

“Where have you been, Tora? I was looki—,” Saga stopped in the midst of his sentence, eyes widening as he saw Tora’s bandaged right hand, “Good gracious! What happened to your hand!?”  
“I’ll tell you about it later. Uruha-san,” Tora nodded his head politely at Uruha.

 

Uruha nodded back and then excused himself to leave. Saga turned to face Tora again, his face contorting in concern. He was just about to say something, but the dark-haired guitarist pulled him by the wrist towards their practice studio.

 

A few moments later, they arrived at their destination. Saga held the door handle, opening it. Tora entered in first, stopping in the midst of his trek when he saw Shou sitting on the sofa. Apparently, Saga saw the vocalist too, as he eagerly ran towards him and sat beside him.

 

“Nee, nee, Shou! Where were you? You didn’t have lunch with us!” Saga pouted.  
“Gomen, ne. I had something else to do,” explained Shou apologetically, “Eeh? What’s wrong with your hand, Torashi?”

 

Tora was actually surprised to witness Shou’s odd behaviour for the second time today, but he managed to hide it. He brought his left hand up to his head, scratching the back of it and then grinned stupidly.

 

“It’s just me and my carelessness. I accidentally held a burnt cigarette earlier. It’s okay, though. I managed to run immediately to the nearest clinic.”

 

Shou’s eyes widened, Nao shrieked in surprise and Hiroto quickly ran to him. The smaller guitarist held Tora’s injured hand carefully and examined it.

 

“That’s bad, ne. You won’t be able to play guitar for a while, Tora-kun,” said Hiroto.  
“Yeah, that’s what the nurse said,” replied Tora, chuckling.  
“It’s okay, pal,” Shou joined, walking to Tora to pat him on his shoulder, “It will heal soon… unlike some deeper wounds that will take a very long time to heal.”  
“I guess so. Thanks, Shou.”

 

Shou shrugged and went back to the sofa. That was when Tora noticed the look on Saga’s face, which clearly said, _“We need to talk later.”_ Tora nodded just slightly at the bassist.

 

~*~

 

“You were lying to us, Torashi,” Saga said, deadpanned.  
“I had to.”  
“Well, you’re going to tell me the truth, at least. Aren’t you?”

 

Tora kept his mind focused on the road, whilst Saga had turned his head to him with his arms crossed. Sighing, Tora finally pulled to a stop. He still hadn’t looked at the bassist’s face as he started speaking.

 

“Shou did it…”

 

Saga felt his eyes growing larger. His mouth gaped open in a silent gasp. The three words seemed to have succeeded in making him feel terrified. He averted his gaze away, barely looking at his reflection in the car window.

 

“Wh-why…?” he muttered his question.  
“I’d like to know too,” replied the guitarist.  
“Could it be…?” Saga gulped, “It doesn’t make sense. I thought he would have moved on. Moreover, I know he’s not the type to—,”  
“Sagacchi—,”  
“A few days ago,” Saga ignored whatever Tora was going to say, “When my make-up was being done, I saw him…”

 

Saga turned to face Tora again, his eyes staring directly into the guitarist’s dark orbs.

 

“I saw him through his reflection in the mirror. He was standing in the doorway, merely staring at me. He didn’t say anything. He just stood there in silence. Then he left. Tora… was it because of me? We both know that he and I were—,”  
“Hush,” Tora put his finger onto Saga’s luscious lips, “I trust him, Sagacchi. _We_ trust him. He’s our friend, isn’t he?”

 

They stared at each other after that. Until Saga broke the silence by circling his arms around Tora’s neck.

 

“If anything happened, I promise I’d always be by your side, Tora,” Saga vowed.

 

Tora caressed the bassist’s hair with his bandaged hand.

 

“I love you,” whispered the guitarist.  
“I love you.”

 

Smiling, Tora placed a kiss on top of Saga’s head.

 

~*~

 

His room was dark again, but this time, only the light from his laptop screen shone through the room. As he typed rapidly, another photograph fell down from his wall onto the floor. He ignored it, his eyes focusing on the repeated words he had been typing for the last few minutes.

> _To tell the truth, I won’t accept that he’s stolen your heart.  
>  I want him to be gone… away from you._

***

“Will you… go out with me?”

 

Shou stared down at two theatre tickets Uruha had offered him. The guitarist grinned nervously, not brave enough to look directly into the vocalist’s eyes. Shou hadn’t said anything in response, making Uruha slowly but surely lose his confidence.

 

“Eeh?? Are the two of you going out now?”

 

Both Uruha and Shou looked up at the voice. They saw Nao and Hiroto had just arrived at the studio.

 

“You came early today, Shou,” said Nao.  
“Yes. I had a feeling that something good would happen this morning. I guess I was right then.”

 

Smiling widely, Shou accepted the tickets and gave Uruha a one-armed hug. The equally tall guitarist blushed furiously.

 

“Wooah! Uruha-san is blushing!” exclaimed Hiroto with wide innocent eyes.

 

Uruha could only cover his face with his palm to hide his embarrassment. At the same time, Tora and Saga showed up.

 

“Ohayou, minna!”  
“Ohayou~” replied all of them simultaneously.

 

Tora and Saga saw Shou’s cold expression and they became anxious. However, they managed to put a normal facial expression.

 

“Nee, Tora. How’s your hand?” asked Shou all of a sudden.  
“Aah, this?” Tora lifted his right hand up, “It’s getting better. Thanks for your concern, Shou.”  
“You had better watch your back, Tora.”

 

Tora raised an eyebrow upon hearing Shou’s advice.

 

“Right. I’ll make sure to do that,” replied Tora.

 

The others seemed confused, but when Saga said that they had better enter the practice studio now, they agreed and quickly forgot about Tora and Shou’s strange small talk. Meanwhile, Uruha waved at them and returned to his band’s practice studio with a big smile on his face.

 

~*~

 

After Nao announced their break, Saga had quickly put his bass guitar on its stand and run towards his boyfriend, clinging onto Tora’s arm in a child-like manner. Hiroto laughed seeing Saga’s childish behaviour and Saga stuck his tongue out at the shorter man.

 

“Nee, Torashi~ where are we going to have lunch today?” asked Saga as cute as he could possibly be.  
“What about the ramen shop about two blocks from here? I passed it on my way to the clinic yesterday,” answered Tora.  
“ _Ryoukai_!”  
“Guys, do you want to come with us?”

 

Nao and Hiroto shook their heads in unison. They muttered some excuses that sounded like they didn’t want to disturb them. Tora instinctively turned to Shou, but the vocalist was nowhere in sight.

 

“When did Shou go? I didn’t see him exiting the studio,” asked Tora, frowning.  
“Neither did I…” answered Nao and Hiroto in unison again.

 

Saga saw Tora’s expression, but he decided to ignore it. After a while, they both muttered their leaving to Nao and Hiroto. As they walked along the corridor, Saga spoke up, his arm still clinging with Tora’s.

 

“Maybe he went to see Uruha-san, ne?”  
“Maybe…” Tora agreed.

 

They arrived in front of the lift, but it was out of order. Saga cursed under his breath, earning a playful smack on his head from his dear boyfriend.

 

“Only stupid people curse, remember?” said the dark-haired guitarist.  
“ _Hai, hai_ , Mr. Genius and Wise,” mocked Saga in response, making Tora laugh.  
“Well, I guess we should take the stairs then. C’mon.”

 

In a minute, they reached the stairs. Saga had begun descending the stairs, when suddenly he heard Tora curse. Rolling his eyes, the bassist turned around and pouted.

 

“Who said that only stupid people curse, hmm?”  
“I forgot to bring my car key, Saga. Wait here, I’ll get it now.”  
“Okay. Don’t take too long.”

 

Tora didn’t get the chance to answer, as he had already run back to Alice Nine’s practice studio. Sighing, Saga continued descending the stairs, taking each step very slowly. Until he reached the bottom of the stairs, he stopped and leaned back onto the wall.

 

~*~

 

Tora entered the studio and found no one inside. He figured that Nao and Hiroto had left as well. He began looking for his car key, finding that it was lying on the coffee table. He half-ran towards the table, grabbed his car key, and proceeded to leave again. He ran towards the stairs where he knew that Saga was waiting for him, bumping into someone in the process. He managed to steady himself, so did the person he had bumped into, apparently. Tora looked up, surprised to see that it was actually Shou.

 

“H-hai, Shou,” greeted Tora, “I—I’m sorry, I was in a hur—,”  
“It hurts, don’t you know?” asked the vocalist coldly, rubbing his bicep.

 

“Torashi!”

 

Tora turned his head to the voice. It was Saga who had called him. The bassist was standing at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at him. Tora couldn’t help but smile when he saw his boyfriend’s face. He muttered his apology to Shou once again and turned on his heel to leave. Nevertheless, when he was just about to descend the stairs, he felt a hand push him forward. Tora turned his head around, eyes widening in horror. He lost his balance and next thing he knew, he was already rolling down the stairs. Vaguely, he heard someone scream. He believed it was Saga’s voice.

 

“Torashi!!!”

 

He was lucky that Saga caught him at the bottom of the stairs. Otherwise, he might have suffered from fracture bones.

 

“Tora!! Oh, God! Are you okay??” asked Saga in panic.

 

Tora didn’t answer. He panted heavily as he looked up at Shou who was still standing at the top of the stairs. Saga followed his gaze and his eyebrows furrowed. The lovers stared at the vocalist in silence, unable to do anything when finally the honey-colour haired man walked away with a smirk on his face.

 

~*~

 

“I can’t believe he did that…”

 

Saga had his hands propping his head, his eyes staring widely down at the table. Tora sat across from him; the ramen was left untouched. Then, Tora reached for one of Saga’s hands, squeezing it softly.

 

“We’ll figure out why he’s doing this to me.”  
“ _Us_ … He’s doing all of this to us, not just you. He’s making me suffer! He intends to hurt you, Tora! If you’re hurt…” Saga lowered his head, “… I’m hurt too.”

 

Tora’s forehead creased and then he moved to sit beside his boyfriend. Saga immediately threw himself into the guitarist’s embrace.

 

“I’m scared, Tora. He can do anything harmful to you. I… I never expected him to become like this. I’ve considered him a big brother since _then_. Why is he doing this to us??”  
“It is obvious that… he still loves you.”

 

Tora’s voice sounded bitter, making Saga lift his head up to look at him.

 

“You’re not saying—,”  
“Don’t be stupid. There’s no way I’ll leave you because of this. I’ll protect you, no matter what.”

 

Saga held Tora’s hand and stared deeply into his boyfriend’s eyes.

 

“Please, be careful. I, too, will protect you as best as I can. It’s you who’s in danger, not me.”  
“Saga…”

 

Tora brought his other hand to caress Saga’s hair, but at the same time, a voice greeted them.

 

“Hello, there! Looks like you guys are having fun.”

 

Both Tora and Saga turned their heads in unison. They saw Shou standing in front of them, hand in hand with Uruha. The other guitarist winked meaningfully at Saga, who nervously smiled at him in response.

 

“Mind if we join you?” asked Shou.

 

Tora didn’t answer, neither did Saga. However, Shou took that as an approval. He pulled out a chair and allowed Uruha to sit down first, and then he mimicked the action afterwards, sitting next to Uruha.

 

“Eh? You guys haven’t eaten your ramen yet? Why is that so? Is the ramen here not delicious?” asked Uruha, confused.  
“Aah, hahahaha… We were discussing about our plans for tonight. We were just about to eat it when you guys suddenly came,” explained Saga, laughing nervously.  
“Did we disturb you?” asked Uruha again.  
“Of course, not! Right, Tora?”

 

Tora gave no response. He merely stared at Shou’s face intensely, whilst the vocalist daringly glared back at him. Feeling uneasy, Saga grabbed his chopsticks and started eating, although from the corner of his eye, he was watching Tora and Shou secretly. Uruha seemed oblivious, though, as he called out to the waiter to order two bowls of ramen for both him and Shou.

***

Tora had just finished showering when he heard his mobile phone ringing. He knew that it was the text message alert that was ringing and it was very likely from Saga. They had an appointment tonight. Tora had made a reservation in a restaurant in downtown. Saga had said to him earlier that he wanted them to dine together at the said restaurant tonight. Stepping out from his bathroom with a towel around his lower abdomen, Tora walked towards his bedside table and picked his mobile phone up. He clicked open the text message and his eyes immediately went wide.

 

“Goddammit! Saga, what do you think you’re doing?!”

 

He threw the mobile phone carelessly to his bed, hurriedly proceeding towards his wardrobe to grab some clothes and put them on. The text message was left open, and the light from the screen was slowly beginning to fade. However, the message content was still visible.

> _I’m going to Shou’s apartment block tonight.  
>  -Sagacchi-_

~*~

 

Saga stood in front of Shou’s door. He was hesitating whether to come in or not. When he and Shou were lovers a long time ago, the vocalist had given him a spare key to his flat. Saga brought the key along with him tonight. He didn’t need to press the doorbell. If he wanted to come in, he’d just have to simply take the spare key out of his jeans pocket and unlock the door. That was exactly what he did, after thinking it through. He unlocked the door and swung it open, surprised by the darkness that greeted him when he looked inside.

 

“Shou…” he whispered the vocalist’s name with a low voice.

 

He almost left when he thought that maybe Shou was going out on a date with Uruha, because the whole flat was all-dark. Nevertheless, something held him back and told him to stay. Swallowing hardly, Saga stepped towards Shou’s bedroom. The door was left ajar and Saga could see a dim light coming from inside it.

 

“Shou, are you there?” asked Saga with a low voice again.

 

Getting no response, Saga took the liberty to go in. Just like the other rooms, Shou’s bedroom was all-dark, save for the dim light that came from his laptop screen. Then Saga realised that the vocalist was sitting on the floor, facing his laptop in silence. His fingers typed rapidly on the word processor.

 

“Shou?”

 

Slightly afraid, Saga forced himself to kneel down beside Shou. That was when he saw Shou’s facial expression. A wide smirk spread across his face from ear to ear, his eyes focused on his laptop screen wildly. Gasping loudly, Saga fell back onto his elbows.

 

“Shou… what’s happening to you?” Saga heard himself stutter the words in fear.

 

Without him expecting it, Shou turned his head to Saga. His gaze was blank, as he leaned forward to caress the bassist’s cheek with his cold hand. Saga flinched at the touch. Then all of a sudden, Shou stood up.

 

“It’s ridiculous. What are we doing in the darkness, anyway?”

 

Saga kept his eyes on the vocalist, who without warning turned the lamp on. Saga blinked a few times when the light hit his eyes, and by the time he opened his eyes again, he did nothing but let out a loud gasp. He looked around Shou’s bedroom, mouth gaping open in shock.

 

~*~

 

Tora was driving like a lunatic. All the time, he cursed at no one in particular. When he finally pulled to a stop in front of Shou’s apartment block, he wasted no more time as he ran so fast towards Shou’s flat. He arrived in no time, not surprise to find that the door was unlocked. He proceeded towards Shou’s bedroom, stopping in the doorway as he saw the vocalist standing across from him and his boyfriend sitting on the floor. Tora noticed Saga’s gaze and he did the same as Saga did earlier, looking around Shou’s bedroom. His stomach instantly swirled nauseously and he had a sudden urge to vomit.

 

“Why? Isn’t it beautiful?” asked the vocalist, breaking the silence.

 

Tora gathered all his courage to move towards his boyfriend. He flung an arm around the bassist’s waist and pulled him up to his feet.

 

“You’re… sick,” Saga managed to form a sentence.

 

Shou looked around at all the photographs of Saga that were stuck up his wall. He burst into laughter after that. Tora held Saga closer to him.

 

“I was the first to steal your heart, Saga,” said Shou after his laughter subsided, “I was the first to be your boyfriend.”  
“It was a long time ago!” Saga screamed.  
“I have loved you with all my heart!!! Why did you go with him, Saga?! He, of all people… He’s my best friend, for God’s sake! No, no, no… he was.”  
“Shou, you’ve lost your mind,” Tora butted in.  
“SHUT UP!!! SHUT THE HELL UP!!!”

 

Shou burst into tears, making Saga’s heart sink right into his stomach. The bassist moved, but Tora held him secure in his tight grasp.

 

“I DON’T WANT HIM TO REPLACE ME!!! I’M MUCH BETTER THAN HE IS, SAGA!!! DON’T YOU FUCKING KNOW THAT??!!”  
“Shou…” tears had begun forming in Saga’s eyes.

 

Without warning, Shou turned around and fumbled with his drawers, searching for something. He found it and turned around again. Seeing the item in Shou’s hands, Tora instinctively moved to stand in front of Saga, protecting him.

 

“Shou, listen to me. This thing is dangerous. You’re not supposed to own it. Lower the gun now, Shou,” said Tora carefully.  
“I want you to be gone…” whispered Shou, aiming the gun at Tora, “… away from him.”

 

Tora stepped back, still spreading his arms widely to protect Saga. Behind him, the bassist stared in shock at Shou with wide eyes, seeming unable to utter a word.

 

“I want you to be gone…” Shou repeated his words, stepping closer towards Tora and Saga.  
“Shou, please. Lower the gun. We can settle this matter amicably. We can return to our normal liv—”  
“I SAID, SHUT UP!!!”

 

A loud gunshot sounded throughout the apartment block.

 

Tora fell backward and Saga screamed. Shou had pulled the trigger and the bullet shot through the side of Tora’s left arm just slightly. However, it could still cause the blood to trickle. Tora panted whilst holding his left arm. Then without thinking, Saga moved in front of him, spreading his arms open much like Tora had done for him. Shou was still aiming the gun at Tora.

 

“Move, Saga…”  
“No!” replied Saga firmly, “I promised I’d protect him as best as I could. I don’t care if it takes my life away, I’ll still protect him!!”  
“Why?”  
“Because I love him. I’ll do anything for him!”  
“Aren’t we the same then? I, too, will do anything for you, Saga.”  
“My love for Tora is different from yours to me! You’ve been consumed by your hatred, Shou. You’ve gone insane!!”  
“THIS IS NOT INSANITY!!!”  
“YES, IT IS!! YOU ARE INSANE!! YOU ARE A LUNATIC!! I HATE THIS SIDE OF YOU!!” Saga screamed until his throat felt sore, tears falling down his cheeks.

 

Silence fell between them. Tora and Saga were still panting when they realised that Shou had brought the gun up to his head. Their eyes widened as they saw the vocalist press the muzzle onto his temple. A single tear fell down Shou’s cheek.

 

“I love you, Saga…” he pulled the trigger.  
“SHOU!!!” shouted Tora and Saga in unison.

 

The second and last gunshot was heard.

 

Shou’s body fell backward. The gun he was holding slithered from his hand. Soon, the blood flooded underneath Shou’s head. The vocalist’s eyes were left wide-open. Saga lost his ability to move and speak. His eyes were staring in shock at Shou’s dead body, tears wetting his face. With so much effort, Tora sat up and covered the bassist’s eyes with his palm, his other hand wrapping itself around Saga’s torso. He whispered some calming words into Saga’s ear.

 

“Don’t look at it. Don’t see. Just forget it, Saga.”

 

However, the tears still managed to escape from the bassist’s beautiful eyes. No words came out from Saga’s lips. He was weeping silently. Feeling the same pain as Saga did, Tora hugged the bassist from behind tighter.

 

The time ticked by and Tora and Saga remained in their positions. It seemed like ages when all of a sudden, they heard Shou’s mobile phone ringing. Jerking in surprise, Tora finally pulled his hand back from covering Saga’s eyes. The bassist was still in a state of shock and it seemed very unlikely that he would be able to answer the phone call. Crawling towards Shou’s table, Tora picked up the still ringing mobile phone. He took a glance at the caller I.D.: Uruha.

 

~*~

 

Uruha had been waiting for Shou for nearly two hours. They had a date tonight. Earlier this morning, Shou had accepted his invitation to go to the theatre with him. Uruha was so very happy that he felt like a schoolgirl on her first date. He had worn his brand new T-shirt and he had also done his hair. He had put on some make-up too. To disguise his appearance in order for the fans not to find out who he really was, Uruha had worn a hat and dark-tinted sunglasses.

 

The wind blew stronger and Uruha regretted that he hadn’t worn a thicker jacket. Wrapping his jacket tighter around his slim figure, Uruha pursed his lips. A couple walked past him, entering the theatre with happy faces. The film he was going to watch with Shou had already started half an hour ago. Nevertheless, he kept waiting for the certain vocalist outside, kept hoping that he would surely come. It was another half an hour later, when Uruha finally felt worried and decided to call Shou. He fished his mobile phone out from inside his jeans pocket, dialling Shou’s number. After a few rings, he thought that Shou wasn’t going to answer his phone call, but then he heard a deep voice answering him. He recognised the voice.

 

“Tora-san…? It’s you, isn’t it? Where’s Shou?”

 

Uruha went silent, listening to Tora’s explanation.

 

“Is this… some kind of a joke?”

 

He heard Tora answering him again. Then after a while, he brought his hand down, lowered his head and stared at his shoes. He didn’t say anything as he felt a single tear roll down his cheek, followed by some more tears. His dark-tinted sunglasses effectively hid his red eyes, as he cried his heart out silently. Then the drizzle of rain started falling.

 

~*~

 

Tora couldn’t bear the sight in front of him. He couldn’t see Saga like _that_. Putting Shou’s mobile phone carelessly on the floor, Tora crawled back to his boyfriend and embraced him so tightly. This time, though, Saga finally gave a response. He wrapped his arms around Tora’s torso, crying Shou’s name out.

 

“It’s over, Saga. It’s over…,” whispered Tora repeatedly.  
“Tora… Torashi…”

 

Saga cried louder and Tora did nothing but hold him even tighter. Across from them, Shou’s dead body remained intact. Nothing changed. Just like the repeated words on the word processor that Shou had been typing furiously since last night. The words were typed in a red font colour. It was only one word, repeated over and over again without any spaces: _hate_ ; and at the bottom of the page, there was one letter that had been typed in the same font colour, but with the biggest font size. The 22nd letter of the alphabet, which bear a strong emotion by the person who had typed it: V.

****

-The End-

**Author's Note:**

> Find this story also [on LiveJournal](http://junakabisque.livejournal.com/605.html).


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